How to Search for an Airfoil by Thickness and Camber and Download Its DAT File

Updated

Open the Airfoil search page on Airfoil Tools, set your thickness and camber ranges, browse the matching sections with their preview images, then open an airfoil's details page to download its DAT file. This works when you already know roughly how thick and how cambered a section you want; if you only have a name in mind, the A-to-Z index or the category searches (symmetrical, NACA 4/5/6 series) are faster.

Before you start

Airfoil Tools reports a database of 1638 airfoils, and the search page shows your current Reynolds number range (the default is 50,000 to 1,000,000) with a link to change it. That range matters later, because the polar diagrams on each airfoil's details page are plotted for a range of Reynolds numbers — set it to match your application before you compare candidates.

You don't need an account to search or download. The site's pricing signals show no paid tiers or payment platforms, so the search, plotter, comparison, and generator tools are presented as freely usable. Note that "My airfoils" is session-only: anything you add there lives in your browser session and must be re-added after you reopen the browser.

Step 1: Set thickness and camber filters

On the Airfoil search page you filter the database by thickness and camber, and the results come back with preview images of the airfoil sections so you can judge shape before clicking anything.

  • Thickness is expressed as a percentage of chord. A 12% section is a common starting point for general work; thinner sections reduce drag but carry less internal volume for a spar.
  • Camber is also a percentage of chord. Zero camber means a symmetrical section (good for tails and fins); positive camber generates lift at zero angle of attack.
  • Preview images let you reject obviously wrong shapes — a highly cambered, thin section looks very different from a thick, near-symmetrical one at a glance.

If your filter returns nothing, widen one range at a time rather than both. Thickness and camber are independent filters, so a narrow window on each can empty the list even though plenty of sections exist.

Alternative entry points

If filtering by numbers isn't what you need, the site also exposes:

  • Symmetrical airfoils — a dedicated list for zero-camber sections.
  • NACA 4 digit / 5 digit / 6 series airfoils — grouped by family.
  • Airfoils A to Z — an alphabetical index, broken into letter groups with counts (for example, G spans 419 entries, E spans 209, N spans 174). Use this when you know the designation.

Step 2: Open the airfoil details page

Clicking a result takes you to that airfoil's details page. The key thing to check here is the polar diagrams across a range of Reynolds numbers — lift and drag polars. This is where you decide between two candidates that both passed your thickness and camber filter: a section that looks right in cross-section may have a drag rise or a stall characteristic that doesn't suit your Reynolds number.

Match the polar you read to the Reynolds number range you set earlier. A section that behaves well at 1,000,000 may not at 50,000.

Step 3: Download the DAT file

From the airfoil's page you can download the DAT file data in various formats, or feed that same data directly into the site's other tools. The details page also links back to the original data source, which is worth following if you need provenance or a coordinate set the site reformatted.

A DAT file is the standard plain-text container for airfoil coordinates — typically a name line followed by x/y coordinate pairs. Once downloaded, it's the input for the plotter, the comparison tool, or your own CAD and analysis software.

Step 4: Use the DAT file in the other tools

  • Airfoil plotter — plots a full-size plan at your chord width. You can adjust camber and thickness, and set pitch to account for wing angle of attack, washout, or wind turbine blade angle. The SVG plan prints full size or tiled across multiple pages for large sections.
  • Airfoil comparison — overlays two or more airfoils on one plan for shape comparison, and compares lift and drag polars across Reynolds numbers. Download or print full size for better resolution.
  • My airfoils — paste DAT file data into a form to make a custom section available in the tools' drop-down menus. Remember this is session-only.

Step 5: Generate a section if nothing fits

If the search returns nothing close enough, the NACA 4 digit generator (and the 5 digit generator) produces sections directly. Generate, then treat the result like any other airfoil — plot it, compare it, or export the coordinates.

Common snags

  • Empty results — your thickness and camber windows are too tight together; loosen one.
  • Wrong polars — you're reading a Reynolds number range that doesn't match your application; reset it from the search page.
  • Custom airfoil vanished — My airfoils doesn't persist across browser sessions; re-paste the DAT data.
  • Print scale wrong — the plotter's SVG prints full size or over multiple pages; check your printer isn't scaling to fit before you cut material.